Robot-assisted IVOR-LEWIS Esophagectomy

This confirmatory, nonrandomized, single-arm trial (phase II) will be conducted to evaluate short-and long-term outcomes of robot-assisted thoraco- laparoscopic minimally invasive esophagectomy for esophageal cancer. Patients will registered preoperatively. The planned sample size was 51. Preoperative endoscopic biopsy was performed in all patients to confirm the histological diagnosis of esophageal cancer. Staging workup included thorough history and physical examination, esophagogastroduodenoscopy, endoscopic ultrasonography, and integrated positron emission tomography/computed tomography scan. Patients with histologically proven malignancy were candidates for surgical procedures. Operability criteria were defined according to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines. All patients were within the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class I to III. In general, neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy was offered to patients with T2-3 or N1-2 disease. The primary endpoint in the first stage is the short-term postoperative complications, and that in the second stage is overall survival; patients continue to be followed up for this endpoint.